


Static

by Invader_FanGirl



Category: COMMUNICATIONS Series - GHOST, GHOST | GHOST and Pals (Musician)
Genre: Also happy anniversary to COLORBARS!!, Gen, Heheh I mean that's one way of tagging, Mentions of/references to depression and anxiety, Reader Insert, THIS IS NOT COLOR-TV PLEASE KEEP THAT IN MIND, in regard to you the reader, sad!reader, static AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-19 15:56:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22934095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Invader_FanGirl/pseuds/Invader_FanGirl
Summary: While watching TV alone and staying awake far too late at night, you accidentally stumble upon a TV show that you have never seen before. Unbeknownst to you, this particular TV show would entail much more than mere entertainment.[A COLORBARS-inspired fanfic, set in an AU that has almost nothing to do with Communications Case 2 aside from Kennith being a major character.]
Kudos: 11





	Static

**Author's Note:**

> Here’s to (loving life) COLORBARS’ anniversary! This is yet another fanfic that I wrote on a whim, but unlike COLOR-TV, this one will stay a oneshot. Now, a couple of things to keep in mind are that 1) this isn’t COLOR-TV related, and 2) this is a reader-insert fanfic. Also, you know how COLORBARS and BROADCAST ILLUSION have two different stories but they both feature Kennith? Well, think of this AU as my interpretation of COLORBARS if it had a story completely different from Communications Case 2. That’s all I’ll say about the fanfic for now, though. Without further ado, I hope you enjoy my newest addition to my collection of AU Kenniths: Kennith the Static Ghost!

It was a Saturday night, and you were alone in the house.

It wasn’t as exciting as it sounded. Sure, you had access to all of the food in the house, you could do stupid dances without anyone watching, and you were free to scream your lungs out to whatever music you listened to. But even you got tired after dark. Although you had exhausted all of your energy, the last thing that you wanted to do was nothing, so you entertained yourself in the remaining hours of the day watching TV.

Unfortunately, you were quite the insomniac. Nighttime turned to midnight, and midnight slowly crept into the early morning. A glance at the clock told you that it was about 1:55 A.M.

You groaned. Curse these awful, depressing thoughts, swirling about your mind. They made it hard to sleep, you told yourself. That, coupled with anxiety, didn’t exactly help matters much either. Maybe you should have exhausted yourself while you still could. At least then you would have no choice but to sleep. 20/20 hindsight, really.

Wrapped up in a blanket and curled up on your bedroom floor, you stared numbly at your TV screen. You weren’t really paying attention to the show (you thought it was some kind of old sitcom?), but it was nice to look at something instead of the empty darkness of your room. Not that you were afraid of the dark, but you enjoyed the mild entertainment, even though your mind was wandering off somewhere else.

The moment that the clock turned to 2 A.M., your TV screen suddenly filled with static.

You sat up straight in alarm. What happened? Did something mess up the signal or something? You couldn’t see outside right now, but you could have sworn that there wasn’t a storm or anything going on.

You hardly had time to ponder the cause of the disruption before the static flickered out, revealing what appeared to be an entirely new TV show.

Surrounded in a pastel yellow background, a teenage boy stood with his arms spread out and poised. The boy had short peach-colored hair and pale skin. His eyes were salmon-colored, or at least his right one was. His left eye was obscured by his hair. He wore a white sleeveless shirt with yellow, green, and purple sectioned off at the top, green accents on the collar and placket, and yellow buttons. He also wore a pair of shorts that seemed to be divided with two different patterns for each leg: pink with white polka dots on the right leg, and plain blue on the left leg. The boy had his left hand open, palm side facing up. Meanwhile, his right hand held a microphone, the wire of which circled him and appeared to float weightlessly around him.

With a smile, the boy announced, “Hello everyone, and welcome to C-O-L-O-R! I’m your host, Kennith Simmons!” After he spoke, theme music began playing through the speakers.

You stared blankly at the screen. What the hell was this? You’ve never heard of this show before. Not that you watch TV this late at night normally, but you should have seen or heard about it somehow in passing. Confused but intrigued, you decided to stay up a little bit longer to watch the show.

After his initial greeting, this “Kennith” character went on to explain the type of show that he hosted, which was in his words: “basically a variety show.” And a variety show it was, as he introduced a cast of several guests onto the show, all just as colorful and bright as he was. They weren’t famous people, at least not any that you would recognize. The cast then proceeded to perform several challenges, ranging from baking, to building, to teamwork-based games—all of which roused cheering and applause from an off-camera audience. Although he was the host of the show, Kennith regularly participated in each of the challenges, even though there would be no point if he were to win. But he looked like he was having fun.

You blinked. They all looked like they were having fun. All of the cast members were happy and smiling, and were never even discouraged whenever they lost a challenge.

Vaguely, you wished that you could be that happy, and have that much fun. It looked like they were all having the time of their lives on this show.

The show continued to run for about an hour, and towards the end of it, your eyelids were starting to droop. It looked like you were finally worn out, all thanks to watching this exciting TV show. Maybe now you could finally fall asleep. That seemed nice. You liked sleeping.

“Hey there!”

It wasn’t like staying up was particularly healthy, either. You were probably going to wake up tomorrow in a daze. Not only that, but your parents would probably yell at you for waking up in the afternoon again. As annoying as it was, you supposed that it was starting to become a habit.

“Hello?? Yoo-hoo!”

Your eyes slowly began to close. You were tired. You wanted to sleep. Finally, after all this time, you could—

_**“HEY!!** Wake up sleepyhead, I’m talking to you!”_

You jolted awake, eyes darting to the TV screen. There, Kennith stood with his hands on his hips, looking impatient and staring directly at you.

After a moment, you answered, “…Me?”

Kennith threw his hands up in the air. “Yes, _you!_ Geez, I’ve only been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes!” he exclaimed, clearly aggravated.

You stared blearily at him. “Why?”

“Uh, ‘cause you’re falling asleep in the middle of my show? It’s _kinda_ rude,” Kennith continued, borderline yelling. “I put a lot of time and effort into running C-O-L-O-R, so I don’t appreciate it when my audience is _drifting off on me!”_

You were at a loss. “…I’m sorry?”

“You _better_ be!” Kennith huffed, folding his arms. Somehow, he wasn’t tangled up in his microphone’s wire. “I expect an apology. If you don’t like my show, you could either say so or just change the channel, not _ignore me to my face!”_

Your gaze then wandered to the TV remote beside you. You reached for it.

Kennith noticed this. “Wait wait wait—don’t do that! I was kidding! I was kidding!”

You stopped, looking expectantly at Kennith.

Kennith forced out a laugh, holding his hands up defensively. “Y-Yeah, it was just, just a joke! Yes, we love jokes here on C-O-L-O-R. And that was one of them! So… please don’t change the channel,” he pleaded.

“Okay.” You gingerly leaned back, away from the remote. “I won’t.”

“Really? Oh, thank you so much!” Kennith beamed, switching his attitude at breakneck speed. “You won’t regret this, dear viewer, I promise! Say, what’s your name anyway?”

You didn’t answer.

“…Not much of a talker, huh? That’s okay. I’ll do most of the talking.” He curiously leaned forward, supporting himself with his hands on his knees. “So! How are things?”

“…Good.”

Kennith hummed thoughtfully. “Hmm, really?”

You furrowed your brow. “Yes.”

“Are you _sure?_ ”

“Yes,” you repeated. Why was he so persistent?

Kennith narrowed his visible eye skeptically, still wearing a smile. “Are you _absolutely_ sure?”

You frowned, narrowing your eyes as well. However, unlike Kennith, your expression was more of a glare.

Kennith continued, “Are you _sure_ you’re sure?”

“I’m gonna turn off the TV.”

“Hey!” Kennith put his hands up in a placating gesture. “I’m just asking! Nothing wrong with _asking,_ right?”

“Why do _you_ care?” you asked, your tone much more biting than you meant it to be. But hey, Kennith was being annoying right now, so who could blame you?

Kennith made a grand gesture as he put a hand to his chest. “Oh, I care about the well-being of _all_ my audience members! My audience’s pain is _my_ pain!” He leaned forward again, this time to the point where he was about to tip over. _“Sooo,_ what’s up?”

You stared at Kennith suspiciously for a moment before curtly replying, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

You knew that your answer made you sound like an angsty teen. And maybe you were one. But that didn’t mean that you felt like sharing your problems with this… thing.

Kennith hummed thoughtfully again. “Why not?”

“Oh, I don’t know, because you’re a TV character?” you snapped. “Because you’re a complete stranger? Because all of this is insane?” You held a hand to your forehead, exasperated beyond belief. “God, I’m either going crazy or this is some kind of dream…”

Kennith fell silent, his smile finally dropping. He looked at you with a blank expression, and honestly, it was more unnerving than everything else. You and him held eye contact for a while, and still, Kennith chose not to say anything.

Despite yourself, you gulped. Did you anger him somehow? What were the repercussions of that? You had no idea what to expect.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Kennith spoke.

“Mind if I come in?”

You didn’t have time to ask what that meant, and Kennith didn’t leave you any room to answer. As quickly as he had asked his question, Kennith reached through the TV screen, his hand moving through it as if it wasn’t even there. He then held his other arm out, and after getting a good grip on the frame of your TV, he hefted himself up and essentially threw himself through the screen, landing on your bedroom floor with a loud thump.

Naturally, you screamed in horror and retreated to the back wall of your room. Kennith looked just as bright and colorful as he did on TV, almost appearing to glow in the darkness of the bedroom. However, the most unnerving part was that he was slightly _transparent._

After groaning in pain for a good few seconds because of his rough landing, Kennith jumped to his feet and rushed over to you, speaking in a hushed tone. Despite everything, he looked genuinely worried. “Don’t panic, it’s okay! This is totally normal!”

You were hysterical, leaning as far away from Kennith as possible. “No, it’s not! Y-You just climbed out of my TV!”

“I know.” Kennith grinned. “Cool, right?”

 _“No!_ You can’t just—”

“Hey hey hey, just calm down, alright?” Kennith went on, acting as if nothing were wrong. “It’s not like I’m gonna hurt you.”

“I don’t know that,” you protested, continuing to glare at him.

Kennith rolled his eyes (or, at least, the one eye that you could see). He slowly backed away from you with his hands up, trying his best to appear harmless. “Well, I’m not. I just wanna talk.”

 _“Talk?”_ you echoed incredulously. “We were talking just now!”

“Yeah, but it was _really_ one-sided. I figured that if I was up-close and personal, you would open up more!” Kennith declared, clapping his hands together. “So! Is it working? Feel like talking yet?”

You paused. _What the actual, literal **fuck** is wrong with this guy._

Instead of answering his question, you asked, “Why me?”

“Hm?”

“Why talk to _me_ of all people?” you clarified.

Kennith appeared to consider this, as he rocked on his heels in thought. He tilted his head before answering, “I see every single person in my audience at all times during the broadcast. _You,_ of all people, seemed a little off. So, I got concerned.”

That explanation only made you more confused. “How did I seem _‘a little off?’”_ you asked.

Kennith’s expression suddenly turned sympathetic. “Well, when you’ve seen enough faces, it’s easier to tell which ones are happy, and which ones are sad.”

You fell silent again.

In some kind of miracle, Kennith finally sensed your discomfort. “…Okay, you don’t have to talk about it. I just thought I’d offer,” he said before sighing in disappointment.

Kennith stopped talking after that. It felt like all energy had left your body after what Kennith had said, and so you slid down the wall you were leaning against in order to sit on the floor. After taking a few cautious steps towards you, Kennith copied your actions, kneeling down to sit beside you. You didn’t protest at this.

 _This is much better than talking,_ you thought. This mutual silence. With you, curled up comfortably in a blanket, and Kennith, patiently sitting next to you, finally and thankfully quiet.

Of course, all good things must come to an end. After a long while, Kennith said, “Hey, have you ever wanted to be on TV?”

You didn’t answer. It had never occurred to you whether or not you wanted to be on TV, and it certainly didn’t occur to you now. The question seemed so out-of-the-blue that it kind of threw you for a loop. So, you were left unable to say anything.

Kennith waited for a response, but he didn’t react when he didn’t receive one. Instead, he continued, “I think it would be really fun if you were a part of the show. C-O-L-O-R is always looking for new cast members! And hey, it might even cheer you up!” he suggested.

The idea of you starring on a TV show seemed so far away from you that you could hardly wrap your head around it. But you entertained the thought anyway, deciding that you might as well play along with all of this. “Thanks, but… I don’t think I’m really cut out for TV. I’m not _that_ great at anything,” you muttered.

Kennith scoffed. “Do you think any of the guests on the show are special? Well, guess what: _they’re not!_ They’re all just regular people who happen to be fans of the show! Really, all you have to do is show up and participate,” he encouraged.

You paused again. This sounded too good to be true. “How would you even bring me there?” you asked tentatively.

Kennith smiled. “Same way I got here. Through the TV.”

You turned and stared at Kennith like he had two heads.

Kennith couldn’t help but laugh at your reaction. “Oh, come on, it’s not _that_ weird! I’m sure you can fit through the TV!”

“It’s not that,” you said, and then you reconsidered it. “…Well, that _is_ one thing I’m worried about, but—” you shook your head, “—this is just. Crazy. I don’t even—okay, will I be able to come back? Preferably before morning?”

Even though this situation was nothing short of bizarre, you had to set _some_ things straight.

Kennith grinned. You guessed that it was because he seemed to be convincing you. “Why, of course! I can bring you back whenever you want!”

“Then…”

You thought it over for a moment, and then decided that this couldn’t be real. It was impossible. Talking to a TV character, having them walk right into the real world, and then having the chance to enter theirs? This had to be a dream or… something. Surely this was all fake.

 _So,_ you reasoned, _there’s no harm in this. There’s nothing to lose._

You sighed. “…Okay, fine, sure. Let’s do it,” you replied with hardly any enthusiasm.

Kennith jumped up from his seat, nearly knocking you over. “Oh, you won’t regret this, dear viewer! This’ll be so much fun, I promise!”

He offered a hand to help you up, and you took it. Strangely enough, his hand felt warm and fleshy, like a human being’s, despite his unnatural appearance. You would be lying if you said that it didn’t freak you out just like everything else.

Kennith then led you over to your TV, and without further ado, he climbed through it headfirst and fell to the floor at the other side of the screen, off-camera. He just as quickly stood up and flashed you a smile that was just as bright and lively as the yellow background behind him. “Okay, now it’s your turn!”

Understandably, you hesitated. After all, you’ve never climbed through a TV before. You gingerly pressed your fingers to the screen, and gasped as they phased right through the clear plastic. Feeling bolder, you then experimentally stuck your arm into it, and sure enough, your arm went right through the screen as if you just reached into a window.

Yeah, this was _definitely_ a dream. So fuck it.

After discarding the blanket on your shoulders onto the floor, you mimicked Kennith’s actions, getting a good grip on the frame of the TV before climbing into it. Thankfully, you could fit through the screen. You quickly found yourself falling to a yellow floor, just like Kennith did, and you grunted in pain. From just a quick glance around, you saw that you were surrounded in what appeared to be a yellow void. There was no studio set, no equipment, and no audience. The TV from which you came from was only a square of static behind you, and it looked completely out of place, like a hole through the fabric of reality.

Kennith laughed as you got to your feet. “Yeah, that doesn’t get any easier no matter how many times I do it. But how can you blame me? Everyone has different TVs, in all shapes and sizes!”

As he spoke, he took your hand and led you deeper into the yellow void. It was eerily quiet here, with you and Kennith’s footsteps being the only noise aside from Kennith’s voice. You looked back, watching the square you crawled out of slowly get smaller and smaller.

“Right. But anyway, when does the show start?” you asked idly. Your screen was nothing but a dot in the distance now.

Kennith turned to you, looking confused. “Huh? What do you mean? It just ended.”

You blinked. "What?”

“Well, yeah, you think I’d just stop in the middle of a segment to tend to _one person?”_ Kennith scoffed. “That’s just bad showmanship.”

You stared at him. “I thought you said I was going to be a part of the show.”

“You are! Just not _today’s_ episode,” Kennith clarified. “Maybe not even tomorrow’s episode. I don’t know, there’s a whole _waiting list_ of people that want to be on the show, so…” he trailed off with a shrug.

 _“Wait.”_ You stopped walking and yanked your arm back, nearly pulling Kennith along with it. “I’m _not_ going to stay here waiting for my turn to be on the show. That’ll take way too long, and besides, you said that you were going to bring me back before morning.”

“Ohh, _did I?”_ Kennith asked, feigning innocence.

He paused. The two of you had a good staring contest for a minute.

Then he dropped the act. “…Actually, I guess I did. Yeah, okay. I said that I _could_ bring you back at any time.”

The expanse of yellow around you suddenly turned black, as if lights were switched off. The dot behind you—your distant TV screen—was the only source of light in the void. You couldn’t see Kennith, but you could hear a grin in his voice.

“I never said that I _would.”_

With that, the square of light disappeared, leaving you in pitch blackness.


End file.
